Over the last couple months, as the 2011 NFL Lockout was still on the horizon the general belief was that draft picks could be traded leading up to the 2011 NFL Draft, but players could not be traded. Over the weekend I noticed some tweets from Chris Mortensen indicating 2012 draft picks may not be on the table for the upcoming draft. He retweeted some info initially saying they're not available, and then followed that up with "yes, league has told teams future picks traded at own risk."
Does this potentially change what kind of trades we'll be seeing in the draft? NFL.com posted a trade tracker for the 2010 NFL Draft and I thought it was worth taking a look at picks that were dealt. Of the 42 trades involving 2010 draft picks, 8 included a 2011 draft pick and 1 (Jason Campbell) involved a 2012 draft pick. 13 trades involved players being moved, with two of those crossing over with future draft picks. That puts you a shade under half the trades involving players and/or future NFL Draft picks.
Assuming a new deal isn't worked out between now and the 2011 NFL Draft, will this potentially limit the number of draft day trades? Or will it lead to more creative deals involving multiple teams? In looking through the trades, only one was a direct three-team deal. Other trades ended up involving third and fourth teams but not in the traditional sense. Or do you think teams will roll the dice in attempting to acquire 2012 draft picks?